


Though He Be But Little...

by Selkie_de_Suzie



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: Big Sister Instinct, Bullying Exes, Defending Your Lady Love's Honor, Fluff, Humor, Potionless - Freeform, Romance, Unexpected Bravery, big brother instinct, butterfly bog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 11:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4135527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selkie_de_Suzie/pseuds/Selkie_de_Suzie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“…though she be but little, she is fierce.” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 3, Scene 2.</p>
<p>Because there’s nothing wrong with some Sunny appreciation. Dawn gets her honor defended, and Bog and Marianne get a shock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Though He Be But Little...

“Remind me again,” Bog growled, swatting at a low hanging flower – low hanging for him, anyway – that was in his way as he and Marianne trudged down the path to the little glen by the Elf Village, “why  _I_  need to be here?”

Marianne rolled her eyes at him. “You don’t  _need_  to be here. It just would be very helpful if you were. It’s their annual celebration of the start of summer, and someone from the Royal Family has always made an appearance there. Heavens forbid that I may want someone to share my suffering –“

“You’re so  _kind,_  Tough Girl –“

“-as I carry out my royal duties. I didn’t think you would begrudge it,” she continued, shooting him another look. “You said yourself that if diplomacy between our Kingdoms is ever gonna be truly successful, we need to address all factions of each Kingdom. The elves are a big part of mine.”

Bog gave an ill-tempered grunt. “I stand by that, but won’t your sister already be there? Isn’t she the one with the closest ties to them?”

Marianne sighed. “That’s…actually the other reason why we’re doing this. Dawn is…I’m worried for her.”

Bog paused in his glowering and gave her a concerned look. “What’s the matter? Is she alright?”

Marianne’s heart gave a little glow at how all it took was a mention of her sister to change his surliness to worry. Despite the shenanigans of a Love Dusted Dawn – or perhaps because of them - Bog had steadily grown attached to the younger of the Fairy Princesses, almost brotherly in his protectiveness of her.  _As if I needed another reason to love him._  

“She’s fine, just…” Marianne sighed once more. “Dad’s been really getting after her and Sunny, even more so than usual. He’s not happy that his youngest daughter is-” Marianne pitched her voice lower and imitated her father’s tones – “ _canoodling with an Elf.”_  Her shoulders slumped a bit – as much as she hated to think about it, the roots of her fathers’ prejudices were becoming more and more obvious. “Dawn’s been having to defend herself a lot lately. I try to help, but…”

“But you suspect that the reason why your father is so hard on her has something to do with you.” Bog’s tone was frank, though his gaze was pensive as he looked at her.

She nodded a bit unhappily. “I mean, an Elf is nothing compared to a Goblin. But he doesn’t want to go after me, so he takes it out on Dawn and Sunny.”

Bog gave a perplexed grimace. “But why not go after you?”

“He knows it won’t get him anywhere,” Marianne replied frankly. “He tried for ages to get me back together with Roland, and I never budged once. He knows better now. And then…there’s you.”

Bog raised a brow. “What about me?”

Marianne gave him a grin. “You’re a big scary Goblin, and a fellow King. Dad wouldn’t dare to try intimidating you. But Sunny is an Elf and one of Dad’s subjects…the odds are kind of stacked against him from the start.” Marianne’s voice grew softer. “I hate it, I really do. Sunny’s a good guy – Dad’s treating him like some kind of criminal, and the only thing he’s ever done is love Dawn.”

Bog gave a dry snort. “Are we forgetting a certain Love Potion and the fact that he infiltrated my Forest?”

She gave him a slight shove. “Hey, we already talked about that, remember? Roland was manipulating him the whole time. And  _you_  were overreacting like a big old Drama King –“

Bog gave her an offended look. “I was trying to stop mayhem from being loosed upon the world, thanks very much -!”

_“Drama,”_  Marianne said empathetically, poking his chest, “ _King._  Don’t you even try to deny it, Bog. I still remember the smoke and lights from your entrance at the Elf Ball.” 

He batted her hand away, and she had to giggle at the slightly guilty scowl on his face.  _The dark and dangerous ruler of the Dark Forest, ladies and gentlemen._

At her laughter, Bog looked over at her, his scowl morphing into a smirk.  His eyes lingered on her own smile and did that thing were they went tender and impossibly blue. This made Marianne’s feet do the thing where they stumbled a bit due to her being so distracted by them.  _Oops._

Remarkably, they were able to make it to the glen without further mishaps and much less grousing from Bog. Marianne looked over the usual crowd of elves and gave a grin and a wave when she spotted two familiar faces. Sunny and Dawn returned the greeting but quickly went back to snuggling and gazing dreamily into the others eyes.

Marianne sighed, a mix of exasperated and indulgent. “Those two are hopeless.” Her eyes searched over the crowd, counting to see if the majority of elves were present for the party, when she spotted another face she was, unfortunately, also familiar with. “Oh,  _dammit.”_

Bog’s wings twitched at the sudden disgust in her voice. “What is it?”

Marianne gave a growl. “Alec is here.”

Bog cocked his head, obviously missing out on the dreadful significance of such a thing. “Who’s that?”

“One of Dawn’s old crushes. Well, technically, he was her boyfriend for a bit. Thank goodness it was only for a bit. He’s horrible.” Marianne shuddered. “Not Roland bad, but close. Even Dad was glad to see him go.”

“What was so awful about him?”

“He was such a  _snob_. He was always making comments about proper breeding and decorum.” Marianne’s teeth gritted a bit as she remembered him lecturing her –  _actually lecturing her!_  – on how a princess should behave. “He’s older than Dawn by just a little bit, but he let it get to his head. He bossed her around like there was no tomorrow –“

Bog gave a slight cough.

“Hush up, I do it out of love. He did it out of being an idiot with control issues.” Marianne looked over at the tall, raven haired fairy male, who was crossing his arms and gazing out over the crowd of happy, chattering elves like he was at once supremely bored and disdainfully amused, his tawny wings fluttering. “But the worst thing was how awful he was to Sunny. He always thought Dawn shouldn’t be hanging out with an Elf, said it was beneath her. Dawn saw the light after that and sent him packing.” She grabbed Bog’s hand and tugged at it. “C’mon, I don’t want him to see us. I just know he’d have something to say about a princess consorting with goblins –“

Bog bore her manhandling with good grace but still raised an eyebrow at her. “You’ve never had any problem with confronting others on that particular issue –“

“I haven’t,” agreed Marianne, pulling him after her. “And if it were anyone else, I would give as good as I got. But seeing as it’s Alec and he started going after us, my fist would be introducing itself to his face.  _Not_ the kind of introductions needed at this party. Dawn doesn’t need to deal with a fistfight on top of everything else. Better if I just avoid him as much as possible. On that note, let’s find a spot.”

Bog smirked. “To hide?”   

She rolled her eyes at him. “I prefer the term  _to keep watch_ , your highness. Now move it.”  

She continued to keep an eye out as they made their way a little bit beyond Dawn and Sunny. There was a tall clump of weeds that they could hide behind from the crowd while still keeping an eye on them. Bog gave a cursory glance over to where Dawn’s old swain stood, frowning slightly. “Odd that a Fairy who so despises elves should be attending one of their celebrations…” he said slowly.

Marianne nodded, biting her lip. “That’s what has me worried. It’s not weird for a few fairies to show up to these things, but since it’s him…and it looks like he has his whole gang here too. I hope he doesn’t try anything.”  

Bog made himself comfortable against the stalk of a milkweed plant, long limbs sprawling. “Would he be foolish enough to?”

Marianne snorted, settling down as well. “Alec isn’t the sharpest thorn in the thicket, lets just say that. He made Dawn cry once,” she continued, her voice grim. “And he was stupid enough to do it around me. I’m gonna wait it out, but I swear if he does anything that upsets her –“

Bog was suddenly leaning over her shoulder, eyeing the Fairy with a sharp new edge of distaste in his eyes. “You’ll find me all too willing to assist,” he growled low in his throat, and Marianne felt a sharp burst of affection and pride at the fierce wave of protectiveness that rolled off of him.  _That’s my man. Goblin. Whatever._

She grinned at him, a thought suddenly coming to her. “You realize that this is gonna be our legacy, right?” She said casually, leaning back against him. “Defending Dawn and tag-teaming egotistical jerks who think that just because they’re good looking they can get away with anything –“

“There have been far worse,” Bog conceded, but she felt his grin on the nape of her neck as an arm snaked around her waist. Twisting a bit in his arms, Marianne reminded herself that instigating a make out in the midst of such a party wasn’t exactly the wisest course of action. Though it would  _definitely_ give the elves a far different impression of Bog –

She snuggled into his embrace before seeing a certain someone making his way to them. “Sunny! Hey!”

Sunny grinned at her. “Hey there, Marianne!” He nodded to Bog, and though his grin becoming just a bit uneasy and his eyes darted somewhat nervously, the warm friendliness in his voice wasn’t at all forced. “Hello, uh, Bog King. Sir.”

Bog nodded indifferently. “Elf.”

Marianne elbowed him sharply in the chest.

“ _Argh, bloody –!_   _Sunny._ Hello.” He glared at Marianne. “ _That_  satisfactory, you mad thing?”

She hummed cheerfully and cuddled back up to him, leaning her full weight on the spot where she knew a bruise would soon be blooming, scales or not. “How you doing, Sunny?”

He continued to smile, but she immediately sensed that something was off. “ _Fine_ , I’m fine, I’m good! Dawn is –“ he darted a glance back at her sister, who seemed to be happily picking at her food and laughing at some of the elves antics – “Dawn is great. We just wanted to ask if you wanted to sit with us? Might be nice, you know?”

Marianne wriggled back into Bog’s arms. “We’re pretty comfortable here, Sunny, but thanks –“

“You sure?” Sunny’s smile remained cheerful, but there was now a definite edge of desperation to his voice. “I mean, it would be nice to have the company, I’m sure Dawn would like to see both of you –“

“Sunny.” Marianne’s voice was calm but resolute. “What’s going on? Is this because of certain snobby jackass making an appearance?”

Sunny blinked at her, thrown, before sighing hard, the air gusting out of him. “You saw him then. Man, Marianne, what is  _he_  doing here?!”

“I don’t know, but I’m keeping an eye on things,” Marianne calmly assured him. She brushed her palm against Bog’s, and he readily entwined his claws with her fingers. “You don’t have to worry about Alec messing with you. Just enjoy the party.”

Sunny grimaced, his normally cheerful countenance marred by the unease in the expression. “That’s, uh…sort why I was hoping you could come sit near us. I mean, if you’d rather not, that’s cool! Totally cool! But, uh, I just thought it would be easier to enjoy the party if everyone saw the King of – I mean, you  _and_  him – you know, together and you know,  _next_ to us –“

“You think that having Bog next to you will stop unwanted attention?” Marianne’s eyebrows rose, and Bog gave a snort. “You have to know that won’t happen, Sunny.”

Sunny shifted guiltily. “Well, not stop the attention, but…maybe prevent it from going further?”

Marianne groaned. “Sunny, I don’t want this party to end up a blood bath either, but having Bog as some kind of, I don’t know,  _guard_  isn’t gonna help you in the long run –“

“Besides,” Bog said bluntly, “the whelp hasn’t even made a move yet. You need to learn to defend yourself.”

Sunny threw back his shoulders, affronted. “I can defend myself!” Then his shoulders slumped and his eyes took on a pleading look. “It’s just – well, you’re  _taller_ , sir –“

“And frightening and a Goblin and someone who’s already crashed an Elf party once,” Marianne interjected. “Bog needs to work on  _losing_  the intimidation factor with the elves, Sunny, not  _increasing_  it.”

“As for me being more imposing than you,” Bog continued, looking a little cross at hearing he had to lose some of his cultivated menace, “that’s no guarantee of power. The most terrifying things are the ones that look the most disarming.”

Marianne gave him a flattered grin. “Aw, Bog, that’s sweet of –“ she paused. “You weren’t talking about me at all, were you? You were thinking about your mother, weren’t you?”

Bog’s shoulders immediately hunched.  _“Uh…”_  

Sunny waved his hands, trying to bring the attention back to him. “ _Guys!_ C’mon! All I’m asking is for some back up if things get crazy around here.”

“Which you’ll get,” Marianne assured him. “All we’re saying is –“

“ – That you shouldn’t underestimate yourself,” Bog continued, pointing a claw at the little Elf. “That’s the quickest way to leave yourself open to an attack.”

“Use the things that you think make you different as your weapons,” Marianne stated, leaning back on her hands. “Take your weakness –“

“And use that as a strength.” Bog nodded at her.

Sunny looked between the two of them and sighed. “Man, for two people who say they  _hate_  all the clichés of romance, you sure  _do_  a lot of them. You’re giving Dawn and me a run for our money, finishing each others sentences like that –“

Bog and Marianne sputtered in outrage and denial, about to launch a counter argument that  _oh no they were so not those kind of people_ , when Marianne caught something out of the corner of her eye. She immediately stopped talking and straightened, going as tense as a hare that spotted a hawk. “Oh no…”  

Sunny looked at her, worried. “What is it?”

Marianne’s mouth thinned as she pointed to where Dawn was sitting. Only now a group of three Fairy youths were making their way to her, led by –

_“Alec,”_  Marianne growled, and she went to rise from her spot, ready to defend her little sister –

But then Dawn tossed her head and called out a cheerful  _“Hello!”_  to the approaching group, before glancing at Marianne. Her smile was sweet as ever, but her big blue eyes were damn near eloquent with the look she gave her older sister.  _Don’t worry, let me handle this._

Marianne struggled between the familiar fierce need to look after her baby sister and the recognition that she needed to respect Dawn’s decision. She hesitated, torn, before she sighed hard and sank back to the ground. “Wait for the first move,” she murmured fiercely to Bog, who nodded grimly, his eyes also intent on the scene before them. “Sunny, you should head back to her.”

Sunny looked panicked. “Um, you don’t think that would make it worse –“

“Dawn,” a voice cut through, carrying over to where the three of them, and Marianne almost gave another growl at the sound of Alec’s voice. God, she had forgotten how annoyingly  _smooth_  it was. “You’re looking as lovely as ever.”

Dawn smiled at him, hugging her knees to her chest. “Aw, you’re too sweet, Alec. Isn’t this party wonderful? Sunny did such a great job organizing it.” She nodded gracefully to Alec’s two cohorts. “Terrence, Andrew, good to see you too!”

If she hadn’t been so tense, Marianne could have laughed. Oh, she was  _good_. In one fell swoop Dawn had effortlessly treated him with all the decorum and grace a princess could desire, whilst also reminding him that is was an  _Elf_  who had accomplished all of this, an Elf that she was most certainly with.  _Good for you, sis_.  

Alec pursed his lips at that, tilting his head so that the sun fell flatteringly across his high cheekbones and light gray eyes. He really was annoyingly good-looking, like a darker image of Roland. “Ah, Sunny. How is the little fellow?” Marianne didn’t miss the delicate emphasis he placed on  _little_ , and saw Sunny slump at that. She reached out a hand and clasped his shoulder comfortingly, and Bog gave a faint growl.

Dawn continued to smile, though her eyes were now wary. “Sunny is wonderful.  I’m  _so_  proud of him. This is the third party he’s arranged – well,  _officially_  arranged. He used to help out with the Fairy Balls all the time, but never had any recognition given to him before, but then Marianne appointed him as the Top Ranking Organizer for events like this for all of the Kingdom –“

Sunny wheeled around to Marianne, his eyes wide. “ _That was you?”_  He whispered loudly, shocked.

Marianne gave him a small grin, but still kept her focus on Dawn and Alec. Though she was keeping it subtle, Dawn was babbling, her tell tale sign of anxiety.  _If he pushes her anymore, I swear_  –

Alec nodded, his eyes lighting up. “Ah, your sister! Dear rebellious Marianne…”he said, drawing out her name, and Marianne felt Bog tense next to her as his two henchmen quietly sniggered.  _Oh no. Keep it cool, Bog_. “She’s been making  _quite_  a few changes around here, hasn’t she? Always liked to march to her own beat, that one.”

Dawn nodded once more, but Marianne saw a certain tenseness in her sister’s spine. Her little sister disliked people going after Marianne as much as Marianne hated seeing Dawn picked on. “Isn’t it wonderful? I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Kingdom more thriving.” Dawn tossed a stray lock out of her eyes, and looked up at the trio, favoring them with an arched brow and a guileless smile. “Or her more happy.”

Marianne’s little rush of affection for her sister was curdled by the nasty laugh Alec gave at that. “Happy because she’s found love again…” He smirked at his friends before continuing, his tone scathing, “… _with a Goblin.”_  

His two henchman laughed out loud at that, not even bothering to hide it. Sunny made a noise of distress and Marianne dug her fingers into Bog’s wrist as he made a sudden movement as if to stand.  _Don’t do it,_  she thought, her nails biting into his rough skin,  _don’t start a fight over me, you don’t need to, not over me, I can take care of myself_  - 

Dawn’s smile looked frozen. “You say that as though it’s an odd thing –“

“It  _is_ ,” Alec retorted. “Your sister has  _always_  been odd, Dawn, you and I both know it. Though I must give her credit, at least  _she_  managed to find a King. At least  _she_  knows that keeping nobility together,  _respecting class_ , matters -”

Dawn straightened up, her smile gone and her eyes flashing. It was odd how her resemblance to her sister was most apparent only when she was angry. “Yeah, Marianne  _is_  different, and thank goodness for it!” she snapped, and Marianne felt her heart give a little twist at the obvious pride in Dawn’s voice. “She and Bog are very happy, and I know for a fact that she would still be head over heels for him even if he  _wasn’t_  a King -!”

“Then I suppose you really aren’t all that different from her after all,” Alec sneered, the distaste in his expression twisting his fine features into something truly ugly. “I had suspected as much, Dawn, even when we were together. Neither of you have ever cared as you should have about keeping to your own, and now look where it’s gotten you! You’re dallying with that wretched Elf, and she’s some Goblin’s glorified bed warmer –“

_“You watch your mouth!”_  Dawn’s voice was shrill, and the rest of the partygoers were starting to take notice, murmurs of unease rippling through the crowd.

Bog gave a violent wrench, trying to pull away from Marianne’s grip, but she held fast, even as her heartbeat pounded in her ears, even as her anger boiled through her, even as she wanted to let him loose on that  _bullying, smug son of –_

“Though perhaps it’s not your fault, Dawn,” Alec mused. “Really, Marianne  _is_  a force to be reckoned with. A stronger person would struggle to throw off her influence. One can’t blame you for being a weak, fluttery-minded little fool –“

Marianne dropped Bog’s hand and grabbed her sword, so quickly it almost made her dizzy, and they both moved at the same time to rush at him –

But someone else got there first.

_**WHAM!** _

Alec’s body curved with the force of Sunny’s punch, and he hit the ground headfirst, the rest of his body following in hard, unflattering sprawl. Blood spurted out of his elegant, now obviously broken nose, his pretty gray eyes widening in shock and pain as Sunny stood over him, breathing hard from both his running leap and his anger, his brown eyes spitting flames.   

Marianne’s sword  _clattered_  to the ground, she was so shocked, and she heard Bog’s scepter join her weapon with a  _clang_.  _Holy…!_

The party was still frozen when Sunny began to speak to the sprawling, bloody heap of Fairy on the ground before him, his voice carrying through the stunned silence.  

“If you ever,  _ever_ speak that way about Dawn –  _or her sister_  – again,” he said, dangerously empathetic, and Marianne had had no idea that Sunny could sound so  _threatening_ , “you better not do it around me.” 

He went to turn away from the shell-shocked Fairy before abruptly turning back. “Actually, no, know what? Changed my mind. If you ever speak about Dawn that way again, no matter where you are,  _I will find you_. I will find you and I will make your  _ancestors_  sorry that you were born. You understand me?” 

Alec blinked dazedly before nodding frantically.

Sunny huffed an unimpressed breath. “That’s what I thought.” He nodded to Alec’s lackeys, who quickly stopped gaping and snapped to attention. “Get him out of here, he’s getting in the way of a good party.”

As they dragged a groaning Alec away from the glen, Sunny smoothly turned back to where Marianne and Bog and Dawn were all staring at him in shock. His cool stoicism then melted into frenzied pain, and he clutched at his hand.  _“Oh man oh man oh man oh man -!”_

_“SUNNY!”_  Marianne burst out.

He looked at her, squinting in pain and trepidation. “Yeah?”

Marianne was still reeling from the wholly unexpected display of ferocity she had just witnessed, and the only thing she could think to say was, “Nice right hook!”

Dawn simply stared at Sunny, her blue eyes enormous.

Sunny gave Marianne a grin before it morphed into a grimace of pain, and he grabbed his hand once more. “Oooooh,  _jeez,_  this feels like its on  _fire -!”_

“Next time don’t put your thumb inside your fist,” Bog advised helpfully, his tone decidedly impressed. 

Sunny’s laugh was rather pained. “I don’t know if I can handle a next time –“

_BAM._

Dawn moved like lightning, tackling Sunny in such a fierce embrace that they were both sent rolling over the ground, bouncing over pebbles. Sunny yelped in shock and pain. “ _Dawn, what the -?!”_

Any further words from Sunny were cut off as Dawn smothered his mouth in such a fierce kiss it almost looked as if she was trying to suck the very breath from him.

Sunny’s eyes popped to almost comic proportions, and Marianne and Bog both took a reflexive step back. Marianne’s voice felt uncomfortably loud when she attempted to speak.  _“Uh-“_

Sunny’s shocked expression melted into one of bliss as Dawn deepened the already ferocious kiss, his eyes sinking closed as he tugged her closer to him.

Marianne’s voice now a definite note of panic to it.  _“UH –“_

Dawn broke the kiss, breathing hard and gazing down at Sunny. “ _You defended my honor,”_  she panted, her eyes practically glowing with adoration. “You actually – just a like a knight– you  _defended_  me.  _You fought for me!”_

Sunny flushed, and attempted a blasé shrug even as his eyes took in her rapturous delight with an almost worshipful glint to his gaze. “I always will, Dawn –“

She seized him in another kiss, and both of them moaned.

_“I don’t_ –“ Marianne looked around desperately, babbling in her panic, “I  _really_  don’t need to see –  _guys,_  everyone is  _watching_ , no one needs to see this –“ she looked back at them and gave a yelp. “OH GOD, THAT WAS A TONGUE, I DEFINITELY JUST SAW TONGUE!”

Sunny and Dawn were too intent on continuing their passionate make out to pay her any mind.

Marianne took off, her panic blinding her and making her run smack into some weeds. She fell with a hard  _thump_  before scrambling up and continued to run away from the sight of her baby sister necking with her boyfriend. “NOT COOL, DAWN! WARN ME NEXT TIME!”

Bog merely shook his head in slightly nauseated wonder before following after her. He also didn’t need to witness such a sight, though he felt a faint sense of pride. The Elf had spirit. Maybe he was worthy of Dawn after all.

He was almost tempted to laugh. Bloodshed and fervent displays of affection. The elves truly did know how to throw a party.

Now if only the gatherings for the fairies were this lively…


End file.
